I recently discovered Photoshop actions and I can't get enough!! I've always wondered how to get those beautiful color-saturated "professional" looking pictures. People have told me I take pretty good pictures, but to me, they seemed kinda washed out, compared to how I wanted them to look. So I did some research on the net, and finally figured out why my pictures didn't look the way I really wanted them to and how to make them to look that way!

I've said it before, but it bears repeating over and over: I LOVE the internet!! So much information!!! It's like having a giant book that never ends! Ooops! Did my geekyness just show? Lol!

Okay, I'll stop drooling and continue...

I've been playing around with Photoshop using some free actions I've found on the internet and getting some amazing results. I mentioned in an earlier post about Pioneer Woman's free action sets: 1 & 2; I recommend you download and try them out today! You can find lots more free Photoshop actions all over the net. DeviantART and Visual-Blast have free actions to download too. Also, try Googling "free photoshop actions", and you'll get around 6,500,000 hits!

Wow!

If you have a particular set of techniques you use over and over, you may be interested in learning how to make your own Photoshop actions. You can find thousands of tutorials all over the internet. I used this tutorial to create an action to add my watermark to all of my pictures. Since learning the technique, I've made several different watermark actions; I don't always use the same one. It was a very easy technique to learn.

Scrapbook magazines offer great photography tips too. I recently bought a magazine by Scrapbooks, etc. that is filled with tips and tricks. You can visit their website for even more photography help.

Here's a couple of pictures I took of Serenity today that I tweaked in Photoshop using several actions I found on the internet.

Check out these awesome results:

The original picture, straight from my camera, is on the left. The picture on the right has been Photoshopped.

Both of these have been Photoshopped.

The original picture, straight from my camera, is on the left. The picture on the right has been Photoshopped.

Both of these have been Photoshopped.

Pretty neat, huh?! Photoshop actions will make your pictures POP! The key is practice, practice, practice! To get the results above, I mixed around 7 different actions together - more is better!

Yep! Serenity's wearing her one-of-a-kind dress from courtneycourtney - don't forget to check out Courtney's store on Etsy and get your DD one of her beautiful dresses today!!

1 comment:

You have to try Totally Rad Actions at totallyradactions.com! I LOVE them. They will send you a free sample set, but I got hooked and ended up buying their complete set. You can see on my blog how I've used them at katiehatchphotography.blogspot.comYour daughter is adorable by the way--I came across your blog through a link on lilblueboo.

Who Am I?

I'm a stay-at-home crafting Mommy. My beautiful daughter Serenity is my Muse and Model for most of what I do on my blog. I love learning how to create new stuff, sew, embroidery, taking (and learning to Photoshop) pictures, doing kid's product reviews, and finding interesting things on the internet other people blog about, create, sell or do all three!

All of my tutorials are for your personal use only!
If you use any of my tutorials, I would appreciate a link back to either my blog or the tutorial please!
Some of my tutorials are pretty simple and can be found elsewhere online, but some of them are my original ideas and techniques.
I have no problem sharing how I did something, but I think it's only fair that I be given full credit for it considering the time and effort it took me to put together a picture tutorial.
Besides, it's just plain dishonest to steal other people's ideas and claim them as your own.
I always try to give full credit to all the creative blogs and people who inspire me - you can see evidence of this all over my blog!
I only ask for the same curtsy in return.